Reds vs Waratahs - the war before the war

[fatprop]

Will just need to wait and see. Personally I think that no man is bigger than the team.

One of the key reason the Reds did so well last season was being able to field Genia & Cooper for nearly every game. It gave them the basis to build a team around, plenty of changes around them - but the calm of Genia and creatively/vision of Cooper was the constant.

It will be very interesting to see how they cope

 

[qwerty51]

Cooper was the only reason you lot won at Suncorp as well. Your pack was smashed, scrum dominated and it took one piece of individual brilliance from Quade to get the win

 

[ripper868]

Cooper was the only reason you lot won at Suncorp as well. Your pack was smashed, scrum dominated and it took one piece of individual brilliance from Quade to get the win

Yeah the pack was smashed, the scrum was dominated, and yet even spending 15 minutes camped on the Reds line the Tah's couldn't come away with more than a penalty goal - clearly Cooper's doing as he is the key man defensively

I think what we'll see is the reds are more than one man, and their strong defence is what the team is based on. I mean, conceding the 4th least number of points with the games worst tackler (Cooper) in the team is an incredible effort...just imagine how much better the defensive line will be now without him in it. There will be no way through!

 

[Schadenfreude]

Cooper was the only reason you lot won at Suncorp as well. Your pack was smashed, scrum dominated and it took one piece of individual brilliance from Quade to get the win

Wait - I thought Cooper was rubbish and threw risky passes all the time, can't tackle and is generally a liability on the park?

 

[qwerty51]

At Test level that is pretty much correct.

 

[suckerforred]

Wait - I thought Cooper was rubbish and threw risky passes all the time, can't tackle and is generally a liability on the park?

Don't worry SF, I think qwerty is a closet Reds fan.

 

[Schadenfreude]

At Test level that is pretty much correct.

Less tahs and more reds in the wallabies should fix that then. Our guys can run, catch, AND tackle.

 

[redstragic]

My feeling is that a good ball player like Harris will unleash the blokes with good footwork outside him. None of this means shit though unless the forwards get him good ball.

 

[Sully]

I just love how people keep over estimating Coopers importance to the Reds.


Sent using Tapatalk on a very old phone

 

[cyclopath]

I just love how people keep over estimating Coopers importance to the Reds.


Sent using Tapatalk on a very old phone

But how do we know, apart from erstwhile Reds fans saying so? He played pretty much all season last year, and was a big part of what made them different, and thus successful.
I personally don't think the Reds will be poor without him, but the jury is out as to whether they will function as well without him. I, for one, am intrigued to see what the Link throws up.
Is Harris or Lucas really the same attacking force Quade is?

 

[Jnor]

But how do we know, apart from erstwhile Reds fans saying so? He played pretty much all season last year, and was a big part of what made them different, and thus successful.
I personally don't think the Reds will be poor without him, but the jury is out as to whether they will function as well without him. I, for one, am intrigued to see what the Link throws up.
Is Harris or Lucas really the same attacking force Quade is?

Agree completely, Cyclo. The like just wouldn't have done it justice. There seems to be a lot of call and not much response by a certain group of posters in this thread ...

 

[Schadenfreude]

Agreed - No banging of drums required, redefine the way the entire team plays in an off season, and then manage the transition when Cooper comes back, and I believe the Wallabies job is in hand ... if he wants it... in 3 years

 

[What2040]

Cooper was the only reason you lot won at Suncorp as well. Your pack was smashed, scrum dominated and it took one piece of individual brilliance from Quade to get the win

Jeez Qwerty,
sounds like your mob should have been ahead by 100 with the Reds being smashed, scrum dominated etc etc etc etc - before a little tweeny bit of Cooperilliance won the match - hahaha

 

[Sandpit Fan]

But how do we know, apart from erstwhile Reds fans saying so? He played pretty much all season last year, and was a big part of what made them different, and thus successful.
I personally don't think the Reds will be poor without him, but the jury is out as to whether they will function as well without him. I, for one, am intrigued to see what the Link throws up.
Is Harris or Lucas really the same attacking force Quade is?

Agree 100% on this. When you look at some of the stats (below) in this Courier Mail article, it highlights the influence he had on the attack. Harris and/or Lucas will be alright, but the Reds will be brought back to the field. Kind of like the Crusaders loosing Carter - they may well still win, but will have to work harder for it.

​

No flyhalf in the competition ran more (62m per game), broke more tackles (55), scored more tries (5) or made more off-loads (41), according to Fox Sports Stats.​

Even more powerfully, what Cooper did best was bring other Reds into the game and made them better. No flyhalf in Australia, South Africa or New Zealand created more tries (10) or linebreaks (28) for teammates. The feats of flying finishers Rod Davies (five tries), Digby Ioane (five) and Luke Morahan (six) emphasised just how peerless the Cooper pass is on the run.​

Correlating the minutes they played, Cooper created twice the number of linebreaks as Dan Carter. That's some void to fill.​

​

 

[emuarse]

Noticed the followiing in the Waratahs trial game against Samoa last night from Rugby Heaven:

SOUTH AFRICAN discard Sarel Pretorius last night took the torch from Kurtley Beale as the Waratahs' X-factor with a strong display in a trial against Samoa in Tamworth.​

Super Rugby's leading try-scorer in 2011, the lightning-fast Pretorius did not waste any time asserting himself for his new team, barking orders and defending ardently.​

.​

So do the Waratahs have the answer to compete with Sanchez Ginea. Sarel V's Sanchez - I like that! The former is tipped to be the incoming Springbok half.​

​

​

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/foley-gets-his-kicks-out-of-wet-waratahs-trial-as-snubbed-south-african-shines-20120210-1soqg.html#ixzz1m1IHajV2​

 

[suckerforred]

Noticed the followiing in the Waratahs trial game against Samoa last night from Rugby Heaven:

.​

So do the Waratahs have the answer to compete with Sanchez Ginea. Sarel V's Sanchez - I like that! The former is tipped to be the incoming Springbok half.​

​

​

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/foley-gets-his-kicks-out-of-wet-waratahs-trial-as-snubbed-south-african-shines-20120210-1soqg.html#ixzz1m1IHajV2​

Can't wait.

 

[suckerforred]

Looks like the Tah injury curse has stared early. For the WB's sake I hope all is Ok by June.

 

[Swarley]

Quade's injury leaves a massive hole- anyone who disagrees is deluded. But I do think that with the emergence of Ben Tapuai, his impact of his absence will be somewhat decreased. If Anthony Fainga'a was lining up at #12 I'd be seriously worrying, but Taps has the speed, balls skills and agility to compensate for some of the flair we've lost with QC (Quade Cooper) out. We all saw his impact during the final stages of the comp last year, and now that he's won a SupeRugby title and played for the Wallabies he should be entering 2012 a better and more mature player.

 

[emuarse]

But I do think that with the emergence of Ben Tapuai

The games I have seen last year, including the Wallabies B V's Canada at Skilled Centre on the Gold Coast, I have to say he is a great centre in the making. As you say Swarley, he has speed to burn, but also his ability to be in the right place at the right time is spot on.
For me, I don't know what the final combination of the backs is going to be, but when Cooper is back I can see a very formidable back line combination of:

Ginea​

Ioane​

Cooper​

Harris (Anthony Fainga'a)​

Tapuai​

Davies (Feauai-Sautia)​

Morahan (Jono Lance)​

I have bracketed some players because for me they are probably as good or possibly better on their day - the bolter is Feauai-Sautia as the coaches work on him.​

Both him & Davies offer raw speed, something I see as a real requirement for one wing, for the other there is Ioane.​

 

[Hawko]

Heaps of talk on here about how well the Queensland backs will go in the two games this year. But apart from one moment of Cooper brilliance last year the games were primarily forward dominated. In the first one the Waratahs totally dominated the Reds pack, in the second it was a forward battle of attrition for most of the game won by the Reds goal line defence with a little help from the Queensland ref.

I don't expect it to be any different this year. For the second game at the end of the season the backs from both teams should probably be kitted up in thermals to avoid the dangers of hypothermia. The pack that gets on top will take home the chocolates and I expect it to be an all-out war up front. The Tah pack have long memories and a point to prove. Be very surprised if either team takes home a four try bonus point.